CHAPTER 5: MILITARISATION AND ARSENALISATION OF OUTER SPACE: STRATEGIC AND ETHICO-LEGAL PERSPECTIVES

Abstract

According to Carl Schmitt, the antonym of ‘The ethics of mankind’ contained in outer space law is nomos and polemos, ie the idea that (international) law and politics have as their respective nuclei the sharing of territory and a relation of hostility, both of which combine in conquest, in the sense of taking possession of a territory by the use of armed force. The big question is knowing if outer space escapes or will escape the nomos and polemos, or if it also experiences or will experience the struggle for domination. In order to answer this question, the article examines outer space law concerning the military; then ‘the ethics of mankind’ vis-à-vis nomos and polemos; finally the militarisation and arsenalisation of outer space, from the angle of anti-missile defences and the relationship to nuclear dissuasion, ie the essence of the problem of defence in outer space.